Articles and Resources

Does COVID Have HCPs Questioning Their Profession?

Signs dot lawns in neighborhoods. Police and firefighters gather in a responsibly distant way with salutes, and children write letters to honor healthcare heroes. Being a medical professional always comes with an enormous amount of respect. But as the world watches doctors, nurses, and other caregivers brave the risks of their profession – many of them without the proper protective equipment – the appreciation for their efforts has been elevated to a level never before seen. Alth...

COVID-19 and Home Health Care

Nursing homes have received the bulk of attention in 2020, but not as much attention has been paid to Home Health Care. In the United States, approximately 12 million older adults receive health care at home. In 2016, the CDC estimated the number of home health care agencies in the country to be over 12,000. COVID-19 has created new challenges for those older adults, their families, their home health care workers, and the agencies that provide their health care. The concept of home health ...

Are Rural Healthcare Providers Prepared for COVID-19?

Despite a lag in the onset of coronavirus cases, rural communities are now under siege and wonder if their healthcare providers are prepared to deal with the health crisis. Rural residents are often older, more economically disadvantaged and in poorer health when compared to urban and suburban residents. As of May 24, rural counties now have some of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases and rates of death in the U.S. Rural hospital closures R ural hospitals are the cornerstone of a comm...

Cognitive Reframing: HCPs and Emotional Trauma

Healthcare providers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic face daily mental and emotional trauma. Stepping up in a time of need and caring for those in any kind of disaster, whether a natural disaster, an unprecedented accident or a world-wide pandemic, is both rewarding and a challenging act of selfless service. It doesn’t come without a price, however. Battling COVID-19, healthcare workers find themselves witnessing human suffering, making life-and-death decisions and carrying ...

Mental & Emotional Red Flags Doctors May Not Realize in Times of Crisis

Before COVID-19, being a physician was stressful. The physical, emotional, psychological, and administrative demands made burnout quite common. In January 2020, burnout impacted 42% of physicians. That number is a decrease from 46% five years prior, but what the number will be at the end of the pandemic remains to be seen. Today, the term “burnout” cannot begin to describe what doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are experiencing as COVID-19 rips through the health...

COVID-19's Economic Effect on The Healthcare Industry

At a time when the nation is looking to the healthcare industry for leadership and service, healthcare workers are being laid off. The healthcare industry is typically one of the fastest-growing industries, with an average of 8,500 jobs being created every month . However, in March 2020, only 200 jobs were created. The industry saw its largest decline in the last three decades, with 43,000 jobs cut, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics . The healthcare system in the United States is f...

HCPs Turn to Social Media to Cope With COVID-19

The U.S. is currently leading the world in confirmed COVID-19 cases. John Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering reports that over 866,000 people across the nation have tested positive for the coronavirus and almost 50,000 people have died. Doctors are reaching out to both the general public and to each other. In YouTube videos, they beg people to stay home and practice social distancing. They also connect with colleagues across the world for guidance and support via apps suc...

9 Ways Healthcare Workers Can Support Each Other During a Crisis

As healthcare workers rush to save the nation from COVID-19, millions of citizens around the world are showing their gratitude and support. In France, quarantined residents cheered and clapped from their balcony windows. In Canada, police, fire and emergency services turned on their sirens in a salute to their healthcare workers and in the U.S., citizens are following suit, with cheering campaigns, prayer vigils and siren salutes. Putting your life at risk on a daily basis can cause an en...

COVID-19 Pushes Telehealth to The Forefront

As the Coronavirus continues to devastate the nation’s healthcare system, people who have succumbed to the illness are overwhelming US hospitals. A shortage of medical supplies, beds and healthcare workers intensifies the problem. In response, federal officials are pushing doctors to screen patients virtually before admitting them for testing. In an $8.3 million-dollar bill funding the nation’s response to COVID-19, the regulations usually restricting virtual screening for those on...

Healthcare Worker Shortage Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

In an industry already short of workers, hospitals and other healthcare facilities scramble to fill empty positions and to ramp up to stem the tide of a medical crisis. Physicians, nurses, EMTs, and other frontline workers across the nation are contracting COVID-19, as they put themselves at risk on a daily basis. Mobile care units and tents are being set up in hospital parking lots for triage screening and call lines are being staffed to screen those who think they might have COVID-19 symptoms...